Revel with a Cause

[Dave Monroe]

Kercher, Stephen E.  Revel with a Cause:
   Liberal Satire in Postwar America.
   Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2006.

We live in a time much like the postwar era. A time of
arch political conservatism and vast social
conformity. A time in which our nation’s leaders
question and challenge the patriotism of those who
oppose their policies. But before there was Jon
Stewart, Al Franken, or Bill Maher, there were Mort
Sahl, Stan Freberg, and Lenny Bruce—liberal satirists
who, through their wry and scabrous comedic routines,
waged war against the political ironies,
contradictions, and hypocrisies of their times.

Revel with a Cause is their story. Stephen Kercher
here provides the first comprehensive look at the
satiric humor that flourished in the United States
during the 1950s and early 1960s. Focusing on an
impressive range of comedy—not just standup comedians
of the day but also satirical publications like MAD
magazine, improvisational theater groups such as
Second City, the motion picture Dr. Strangelove, and
TV shows like That Was the Week That Was—Kercher
reminds us that the postwar era saw varieties of comic
expression that were more challenging and
nonconformist than we commonly remember. His history
of these comedic luminaries shows that for a sizeable
audience of educated, middle-class Americans who
shared such liberal views, the period’s satire was a
crucial mode of cultural dissent. For such
individuals, satire was a vehicle through which
concerns over the suppression of civil liberties, Cold
War foreign policies, blind social conformity, and our
heated racial crisis could be productively addressed. 

A vibrant and probing look at some of the most
influential comedy of mid-twentieth-century America,
Revel with a Cause belongs on the short list of
essential books for anyone interested in the
relationship between American politics and popular
culture.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/186402.ctl

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